Pell eligibility for incarcerated people is a great rehabilitative opportunity, but several challenges remain. This article recaps five of the issues identified by the original research articles in this special issue. It also considers how solutions proposed in these studies may be beneficial across a variety of these issues and gathers…

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

Tuition discounting (TD), a practice whereby institutional grants are used to subsidize a student's educational expense, has become a common practice at four-year institutions. TDs impact on enrollments, financial aid, and budgets continues to increase, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the practice. Drawing upon Breneman's…

In the context of the recent efforts to arrive at a federal budget, articles abound in the popular media and trade publications debating both the value of Pell Grants and their rising cost to the U.S. government. Both pros and cons of the debate hold value. Pell Grants are what enable many low-income families to send their children to college and,…

Over the last three decades, college costs have increased nearly four times faster than median family income. Financial aid has not filled the growing gap, and the share of college costs not covered by financial aid or what the family is expected to contribute has risen sharply. Rising costs and rising debt make college a riskier investment for…

Evidence of greater economic stratification brings challenges to higher education's enrollment of low-income students. With a growing proportion of potential college students coming from low-income households, increasing their post-secondary participation rate is vital in developing and growing the pool of educated individuals for the labor force…

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the state of Tennessee while also incorporating the hallmark elements of existing merit-based aid programs in other states. Developed through a process involving elected officials and members of the academic community, the TELS program aims to…

The "voucher system" refers to one type of system the government may employ to channel tax funds into public services. Its distinguisihing feature is that it distributes funds directly to individual citizens instead of public institutions, i.e., the individual is given a voucher to purchase the services he chooses. This report focuses on…

The report examines tuition assistance costs being charged to the federal government for family members of employees at educational institutions performing government-funded research. The study involved visits to 5 of the 10 universities receiving the most federal government-funded contracts and grants. The report addresses: (1) comparison of…

The hearings before the subcommittee on education of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, Ninety-Third Congress on the examination of the family contribution schedule for the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program for use in academic year 1975-1976 are presented. Testimony and supporting evidence are included. (MJM)

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education has as its main objective to improve postsecondary educational opportunities by providing assistance to educational institutions and agencies for a broad range of reforms and innovations. Grants and contracts may be awarded by the Fund for one of 8 purposes: (1) encouraging the reform,…

This document summarizes the type or amount of assistance and eligibility and application procedures of major federal student assistance programs administered by the Office of Education. The programs discussed include: the basic educational opportunity grant program; the supplemental educational opportunity grants; direct loans to students in…

The Basic Opportunity Grants symbolize one approach to the financing of higher education. In this paper, the formula of the grant is tested against the theory and practice of negative income taxation. A key concept in both Basic Opportunity Grants and in other types of income taxation is that of the family unit whose income must be counted in…

This article examines grants (Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, state grants) and work-study and loan programs. Discusses aid available to low-income and middle-income families, average amount of various types of awards, and what percentage of students is receiving financial aid. (CT)